1. family and parenting
2. children

A
a n de qa d
d lil v cehri lsdi rteyn &
u ui lttys
d i v eh ra vs ei ttéh e&r i ég hq tu i t é
d eavae rl odpi g h e i d
d i v e r st oi t ee vi ot l v&e ag ne dl i tjok w
in G
a lceoinct he xwt ü r d i g k e i t
Vielfalt &
l a d i v e rwshi edr ae dt hye r le a i se q u i d a d
é a g s ú le aq cu iht ty aa ngdu sr e cs po et cht r o m a s
for &
d i vισοτητα
e r s i t y δικαιωματων
διαϕορετικοτητα
Making Sense
of good Practice
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Diversity in Early Childhood Education and Training
Researched and developed by
Anastasia Houndoumadi
Centre for Artistic and Pedagogical Training “Schedia” (Raft), Athens, Greece
Dalvir Gill
Centre for Research in Early Childhood (CREC), Birmingham, England, UK
Françoise Moussy
Ecole Santé Social Sud-Est (ESSSE), Lyon, France
Peter Lee
Childhood and Families: research and development centre (CAF), University of Strathclyde,
Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Veerle Vervaet
Resource and Training Centre for Child Care (VBJK), Ghent, Belgium
Regine Schallenberg-Diekmann
Institut für den Situationsansatz (ISTA) in der Internationalen Akademie (INA)
an der Freien Universität Berlin; INA.KINDER.GARTEN gGmbH, Germany
Funded by
The Bernard van Leer Foundation, The Hague, The Netherlands
www.bernardvanleer.org
Lay-out
Regine De Loose
www.la-voila.be
Edited by
The European Network DECET – Diversity in Early Childhood Education and Training, 2007
www.decet.org
Please feel free to use and photcopy this document if you wish but as a matter of courtesy,
please refer to the fact it has been produced by DECET
Diversity
&
Equity
Making Sense
of
Good Practice
D
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Diversity in Early Childhood Education and Training
Acknowledgements
This document has been a collaborative exercise, a process of co-construction of common understanding made possible
with the generous funding and support of the Bernard van Leer Foundation.
We are grateful to Professor Joseph Tobin from Arizona State University for his critical support, enabling us to focus on coconstructing our understanding of good practice with parents, practitioners, policy makers and fellow DECET colleagues.
We would also like to thank Dr. Michel Vandenbroeck, Ghent University, Belgium, for his wise and perceptive foreword and
for his contributions during his time as member of the workpack period.
Special thanks for support and critical feedback go to our colleagues Anastasia Vafea of SCHEDIA; Evelyne Höhme-Serke
of ISTA; Chris De Kimpe and her team of PBD Ghent; colleagues within the Faculty of Education, University of Strathclyde;
colleagues of ESSSE.
We want to extend our appreciation to the children, parents and staff of the following early childhood provisions for
their active participation and willingness to share their experiences leading to valuable contributions that are featured
throughout this document:
Elief in Antwerp, Okido in Merksem, ‘t Kriebelhuis in Ghent, ZOC and Stampertje in Zeebrugge, Belgium; St. Thomas Early
Excellence Centre, Birmingham, Adderley Nursery Centre, Abbotsmede Nursery School, Peterborough, Blakenhall Neighbourhood Nursery, Wolverhampton, England; INA.KINDER.GARTEN Bülowstr., Dresdener Str., Grüntaler Str., Lüneburger
Str., Markgrafenstr. in Berlin, Germany; Intercultural Centre for Creative Activities, Elefssina, Greece; Early Years Centres in
Glasgow and Inverclyde, Scotland; and to practitioners of childcare centres of the city of Lyon as well as students “educators
of young children” of ESSSE, France; children and parents from Pavee Point Travellers' Centre, Dublin, Ireland.
Many thanks for photo contributions to Barbara Bache, Caroline Boudry, Volker Döhring, Amara Hark-Weber,
Gisela Hermann, INA.KINDER.GARTEN Dresdener Str., Sophie Maurer, Sophia Sandleben, Derek Speirs, Gerda Wunschel,
Renate Zander and to Early Years Parental Support Service, Sandwell, England.
Also, we like to thank all children and adults who gave us the permission to use their photos.
Foreword
Recently, the OECD issued the second comprehensive and influential 'Starting Strong' report1 . It
makes a strong case, backed up by international research, that early childhood matters. But also that
not every early childhood matters in a similar way. In order to enable all children to benefit from
early childhood care and education, service provision must offer high, rather than average quality.
And that obviously is a matter for continuous debate: what constitutes high quality?
Recent international research contributed to the understanding that quality is not an objective
truth that lies out there, waiting to be discovered by experts. It is constructed and reconstructed
over and over again. Developmental psychology, for instance, has helped us to understand children’s
needs, but it has historically also been a science about the average child, that of course, does not
exist. Today, it is clear that what quality is also depends on who the families are we wish to serve.
What excellence is in an inner city of the UK differs significantly from what excels in a Greek suburb.
Consequently, framing universal quality criteria has very often contributed in privileging the already
privileged groups in our western societies.
This understanding of quality as contextualized and value laden, has often been misunderstood as a
'postmodern' perspective, wishing to deconstruct all standards. In turn, this may lead to an attitude
of 'anything goes' that may convey the message that early years management or policy makers can
withdraw from their responsibilities. The United Nations’ International Convention on the Rights of
the Child does not allow us to cherish such a 'laissez-faire' attitude. It is after all our common responsibility to set the highest standards possible for today’s and tomorrow's children. But to do so in
a way that involves all stakeholders and that includes practitioners, parents and children.
That is exactly what the DECET network has been attempting to develop over the last three years.
The DECET network members started from three basic and very simple questions: What kind of
early years service provision is appropriate to give each child a sound and positive image of belonging, the self-confidence to build on in later years? What early years service provision fosters the
building of communities, where different people can communicate with each other? And what kind
of service provision contributes to social justice? In societies that are marked by growing diversity,
by fragmentation and individualisation these questions are at the heart of many concerns, shared
by educators and policy makers alike: concerns regarding citizenship, social cohesion and social inclusion.
The uniqueness of what the DECET network presents in this document is threefold: it is not only
based on the expertise within the network, but also takes into account local contributions of educators, parents and children; it acknowledges that quality is value laden and clarifies its values explicitly
in the introduction and throughout this publication; and it presents clear standards to build upon, but
in an open-ended, non-prescriptive manner. By doing so, they offer us a document which stimulates
us to think and act and consequently it is a document for change.
Michel Vandenbroeck, Ph. D.
Department of Social Welfare Studies, Ghent University
1. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2006). Starting Strong II. Early Childhood Education and Care. Paris: O.E.C.D.
Introduction
Equity and Respect for Diversity
What is it about?
The early years are logically and practically a good place to start to foster and strengthen children’s
identities and to raise positive awareness of diversities. It is a time when children are learning about
their world from everything that is around them – their families, their peers, other people they meet,
the media, their toys, books and other resources that they play with or encounter. Practitioners will
need to ‘look, listen and note’ in fostering these aspects of children’s diverse identities so as to offer
experiences that effectively support them in their development of positive knowledge and understanding of the world. Early Years and Childcare settings that positively include children from a range
of different social backgrounds, cultures, religions and embrace diversity as a part of life, help children
to grow in their understanding, respect and appreciation of the diverse society we all live in.
In many countries throughout Europe, governments, policy makers, decision-makers and service
provider managers are seeking to give emphasis and priority to respecting diversity and valuing the
multiple identities of children, families and communities. As a result, many stakeholders are interested
in developing policy and strategy documents which support and promote a more holistic view of a
child within a family, a family within a community and a community as part of a national strategy.
This document is the result of work undertaken by members of the DECET (Diversity in Early
Childhood Education and Training) network. DECET brings together a network of European organisations with common goals about valuing diversity in early childhood education and training. The
network aims at promoting and studying democratic childcare, acknowledging the multiple (cultural
and other) identities of children and families.
What is DECET striving for?
All children and adults have the right to evolve and to develop in a context where there is equity
and respect for diversity. Children, parents and educators have the right to good quality in early
childhood education services, free from any form of - overt and covert, individual and structural
- discrimination due to their race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national,
ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status (in reference to Article 2, UN-Convention on the Rights of the Child).
The DECET network will nurture knowledge, skills and attitudes which enable children and adults
to construct together early childhood education services and communities where everyone
• feels that he/she belongs
• is empowered to develop the diverse aspects of his/her identity
• can learn from each other across cultural and other boundaries
• can participate as active citizens
• actively addresses bias through open communication and willingness to grow
• works together to challenge institutional forms of prejudice and discrimination
The principles presented in this document are based on DECET’s mission statement, aims and objectives and could serve as benchmarks for all early childhood care and education provisions.
Will you share our process of co-constructing
common knowledge?
DECET is organised into transnational sub-groups, called workpacks. One workpack was entitled
'Participatory Research on Making Sense of Good Practice' and consisted of members from Germany, Scotland, Belgium, England, Greece and France. Workpack members worked on investigations
with colleagues, parents and children in their respective countries to identify how practice(s) promote respect for diversity in early childhood settings. The results of this research have informed this
document which outlines principles and quality criteria on respect for diversity and suggest some
methods for their promotion.
There are 'real' examples of how the workpack members used the principles and criteria material in
different ways in the six countries involved: to compare early years setting's attitudes on respecting
diversity in mono and multi-cultural settings, to challenge perceptions of staff and managers; to develop existing practices; to involve parents and children in research activity; to illuminate exemplars
on respect for diversity; to gather information from heads of centres who have been successful in
promoting respect for diversity.
The DECET workpack has illustrated these principles by identifying criteria for participants in the
co-construction of knowledge to gauge whether the principles have been implemented. This document is interactive and is not meant to be prescriptive.
In developing this document, we are hoping that the principles and criteria will be taken to stimulate
discussion. DECET expects all those who use it will re-word the criteria into languages in which
they are comfortable. The process of altering the criteria is seen as an essential part of participants
developing a deepening sense of ownership for promoting respect for diversity.
The quotes are real and are meant for critical reflection. They have emerged from interviews with
practitioners, mothers, fathers and children. They are not meant to highlight good practice. In fact
sometimes they may challenge what is good practice, what is the value-base of work with children
and families or who has the right to transmit values to children.
How can you use this document?
We share our work results in this document. Feel free to use it
• to inform interested policy makers, academics, practitioners and parents about the work of
DECET: its mission statement, its aims and its objectives;
• to stimulate interactive dialogue with policy makers, staff teams, staff, parents and children about
promoting respect for diversity as a major foundation of any early years practice;
• to challenge negative attitudes and develop further existing practice on respect for diversity.
We invite you to contact us and share your thoughts, doubts, ideas, suggestions, experiences.
For the DECET network:
Anastasia Houndoumadi, Schedia, Greece: ahal@hol.gr
Dalvir Gill, CREC, England: d.gill@crec.co.uk
Françoise Moussy, ESSSE, France: moussy@essse.fr
Peter Lee, CAF, Scotland: p.lee@strath.ac.uk
Veerle Vervaet, VBJK, Belgium: veerle.vervaet@vbjk.be
Regine Schallenberg-Diekmann, ISTA, Germany: r.schallenberg@inakindergarten.de
Some personal questions
Before you start reading the principles with their criteria, we would like
to invite you to reflect on some personal questions.
You may also use these questions for discussions with parents, staff and
other stakeholders.
What gives you a sense of belonging?
How does it make you feel when you experience being accepted,
recognised and included?
Have you ever experienced aspects of your identity not accepted
or recognised in your environment?
Can you describe the feelings you had?
How can we learn from each others’ backgrounds and experiences?
What might be obstructive, what supportive?
What might make you strong enough to challenge your own
values and convictions?
Have you ever experienced instances where effective communication
could break down barriers? What made this communication effective?
What does being an active citizen mean for you?
What can help you to act as an active citizen?
Can you imagine standing up in the face of bias, prejudice or
discrimination? What makes you feel anxious, what courageous?
Have you ever experienced not doing something to challenge bias,
prejudice or discrimination? Can you describe your feelings?
If early childhood education and care provisions were built on
principles of equity and respect for diversity, what would they be like?
principle
1
Ever yone
feels that
she/he
belongs
• The staff actively shows to all users of the early childhood education and care provision and the local community that everyone is
welcome and that they are invited to be part of the provision.
• The provision guarantees equality of access to all members of the
community throughout all its services.
• The needs of everyone are recognised and given individual attention.
• The setting and the pedagogical process reflect diverse characteristics of all families.
• The policy, practice and organisational structures of the centre are
transparent.
• Professionals regularly reflect on their own experiences, feelings
and attitudes.
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'I myself need a very long time to feel that I belong.What I need is being accepted and a feeling of trust.'
Marina, centre manager
'If the preschool hadn't come into the travellers' site I wouldn't have left the
children down the road. I wouldn't leave them. No one talked to me about
preschools. I had no information, so why would I go off with my children to
somewhere I knew nothing about.'
Bridget, mother
'It is very helpful that I can bring my daughter around eleven in the morning
after breakfast and a nice time of playing with her. Then I go to sleep after
my night shift.'
David, taxi driver
'You are only a guest here. Behave according to the rules!'
Alexandra, director
'When my son was born with Down's Syndrome I was very concerned about
if it would be possible to find appropriate childcare.The centre invited me to
have a close look and I got answers to all my questions. I got an information
sheet that told me everything about their philosophy. I really felt invited, so I
can imagine that my son will be well here, too!'
Navina, mother of two children
'In the lobby of the centre all staff members present themselves with a photo
and some personal information: what is important for them in their work, a
photo of them as a child, their hobbies, their own children, the languages they
are capable to speak… That impressed me very much.'
Alen, father
'The little baby-boy was crying and could not sleep. We asked his mother
what we could do to help him. She always sings a lullaby for him. This gave
us the idea to record her singing, so now when the boy is tired or upset we
play this song for him.'
Teslime, early childhood educator
principle
2
Ever yone
is empowered
to develop
the diverse aspects
of her/his identity
• Professionals nurture each person’s individual and group identities
in developing their sense of pride in their multiple identities.
• A safe atmosphere is provided where all convictions, values and
beliefs – even when perceived as conflictual - can be expressed and
negotiated.
• The children’s needs, interests, questions and experiences and how
they make sense of these are the focal point of the pedagogical activities.
• Children, parents and professionals exchange information to gain
greater knowledge and understanding of their life-situations in order to be appropriately responsive.
• Children, parents and staff set the boundaries for any exploration
into family lives.
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‘During their first weeks in our centre, the mother of Kieran always looked stressed and
worried, when she came to bring or pick up her 18 months old boy. One evening, she
told me that her mother was blaming her for bringing her son to childcare. We invited
the grandparents to spend some time with their grandson in our group. They were very
impressed by seeing Kieran playing with the other children. They changed completely
their idea about childcare. It was a big release to Kieran’s mother.’
Sofia, educator
‘Mammy, I was in school today!’
(excited response to the introduction of jigsaws depicting Traveller life into the setting)
Winnie, four years old
‘Every afternoon, when parents come to pick up their children, digital pictures are
projected on a small screen, so parents can see what their children did that day. Those
photos help them to discuss our activities, show them how their child felt and parents
inspire us with their ideas and proposals.’
Carine and Hava, educators
‘ We ask every new child and family in our group, to bring some music they usually listen
to at home. So we can count on a real diverse collection of dance music!'
Hatice and Gerd, educators
‘At my first visit to the centre, there was Jusuf, a three years old boy, who took me to
the family wall. He invited me to sit down and explained to me, very proudly, his whole
family structure: parents, uncles, aunts, grandmother, sisters and brother, with whom
he lives very closely. He made me dream about how my daughter would present her
family when she will be his age…’
Alice, mother of Melissa
‘No one in this centre is interested in our difficulties in teaching our children to speak,
read and write the Arabic language, their heritage language that they need to communicate with their grandparents.’
Ahmed, father of two children
‘When my daughter Lisa went for the first time to the childcare centre, the educators asked me how we, as parents, wanted them to speak about the handicap of our daughter
in communicating with other children and parents. I was very touched by that question
because in that period, my husband and I were not ready to use words as handicap or
disability and we did not want others to use them when speaking about Lisa.'
Catherine, mother of three children
‘I am so very happy that Anette (the professional) knows that I have two names: a Turkish name from my father and a German name from my mother.’
Aline Öztürk, four years old
principle
3
Everyone can
learn from each
other across
cultural and other
boundaries
• The professionals promote a positive climate of diversity by celebrating both similarities and differences in every day life.
• The staff create an atmosphere that enables all to exchange and
negotiate ideas and proposals. Thus all stakeholders are actively
involved in the co-construction of high quality care and education.
• The professionals make the learning processes, the co-construction
of knowledge visible through dialogue with all stakeholders.
• Any documentation values the voices of children, parents, professionals and other stakeholders and is used as a means for dialogue and
reflection.
• Each professional reflects on and strives to go beyond their own
boundaries and the limitations of their knowledge, values, images,
assumptions and emotions.
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'In our daycare centre we work in real collaboration; it is usual for parents
and professionals to discuss the pedagogical objectives. For example, as children are currently very interested in firefighters, Julie’s father, a fireman, has
proposed to come in the childcare with his uniform and his truck. Parents
and educators were very enthusiastic thinking it would be a good moment to
speak about safety.'
Sophie, mother
'My son left the daycare when he was three years old. Helen, his nursery nurse,
gave him his journal with photos and personal notes made by her and drawings
of my son. Now he is ten years old and when we look together at this journal,
I realise how important it is for him to have a trace of his first three years.'
Julien, father
'In our centre we have a world map on which we ask parents and practitioners to indicate the places they feel they belong. Since the map is in the
hall, a lot of parents, children, visitors and professionals stop in front of it, to
discuss the diversity represented.”
Anne-Marie, educator
'This morning I saw Fimobibe playing at a dinner party with dolls. He put all
plates on the floor just behind the table.When he sat down and began to eat,
Enzo picked up the plates and put them on the table. Fimobibe stood up and
told Enzo: No, put them on the floor, it’s time for dinner!'
Dominique, educator in toys library
'My usual way was to put Henry to bed and leave him to sleep on his own.
My friend, a Korean mother, never left her child until she was asleep. Recognising the other way increased my understanding.'
Veerle, mother
'This afternoon we’ve given a lot of pieces of cloth for the children to play
with. Souhé stretched a piece on the floor in front of her. Then she took
another one, and put it on her hair.Then she prayed. Louise looked at her and
asked: What are you playing?'
Nathalie, educator
principle
4
Everyone
can participate
as active
citizens
• The early childhood education and care provision is a vital part of
the local community networks and staff are actively involved in issues of current concern to community members.
• The professionals create democratic structures and actively seek the
opinion of all children, parents and staff.
• Parents, staff and children all share responsibilities in order to
design every day life together and achieve a sense of ownership
and belonging.
• The provision contributes to the dynamics of the community by
enabling children, families and staff to make use of the resources
available: space, staff, equipment and information.
• Staff seek to increase their own knowledge, skills and capabilities
in diverse forms of participation.
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'I don't like the smell of Tuesdays but they make me eat it.'
Petros, four years old
'For me there is absolutely no point in managing an early years and family
centre and not relating the centre to the child's life at home and in the community: it is my job to make sure that the connections are strong, it is my job
to make sure parents are not only welcome but expected to participate at a
level they are happy with.'
Julie, centre manager
'Even though I work full-time, I know what is going on for my child, they make
a point on keeping me up-to-date. I am given the chance to speak to staff in
the evening if I want to, to offer my opinion, to meet other mothers and it is
all done with a sense that nothing is a bother or that I am not interfering. In
fact I feel they know it is my right to know.'
Aanchal, mother
'I get to choose the activity today and I get to be the boss - even if I want to
tell everyone to go home, I think they would have to, honest they would!'
Melissa, nearly five years old
'My staff are encouraged to sit on different committees; children's assessment teams, community festival and drama committees, parent's committees, interagency groups. It means that they see a bigger picture and get to
know everyone in the community.'
Eva Maria, centre manager
'I work for minority ethnic parents to help them take responsibility for their
children; some centres take that responsibility away from them.'
Jimmy, social worker
principle
5
Everyone actively
addresses bias
through open
communication and
willingness to grow
• The early childhood education and care provision takes positive
action to ensure that the composition of the staff reflects societal
diversity.
• The provision establishes channels of exchange and communication
with families belonging to less visible groups that might not be
represented at the early childhood centre or even within the local
community.
• The provision promotes an ethos within the centre whereby discrimination is never seen as acceptable.
• In the face of bias or discrimination, staff find ways to take a firm
stand against it.
• The staff create opportunities for discussion on forms of inequity,
social injustice and power relations in society.
• There is a direct role for staff to mediate and advocate in local
policy formation by raising awareness of existing inequalities in
children’s and families’ needs.
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'When we realized that a priest had come to give the 'blessing' in the inauguration ceremony, we sent a clear message to the mayor that such an act
would be incompatible with the multicultural character of the Centre and
could alienate the Muslim community’s children and families that we worked
with. Faced with a clear and articulate stance, the office of the mayor ensured that the priest remained as a guest during the ceremony.'
Evgenia, educator
'One day a mother, while waiting for her child, saw Maria who makes loud
noises when excited. The mother got frightened and showed disgust. I took
that as an expression of dislike and probably so did Maria, I reacted aggressively. Perhaps I better should have taken Maria by the hand and given her
the opportunity to communicate with that mother.'
Panaghiotis, educator
'The minority cultures became visible to the wider majority community when
their music was played out over loudspeakers at an open cultural event for
children and families held centrally in the city.'
Dimitris, taverna waiter
'Bilal kicked Mohamed and hit him with his fists, because he had just called
his mother a 'whore' in their own language. Bilal’s parents are separated and
his mother lives with a new man. The teacher turned to Mohamed and said
so that we all heard it: Bilal’s mother is not a whore! She loves her children
very much just like your mother loves you. We do not allow such a language
to be used here!'
Lena, five years old
'When I collected my child at the end of the day, his key worker told me that
she heard some of the children using the word Paki. She informed me of how
she talked to all the children during circle time helping them to understand
how damaging this word is.'
Iram, mother
principle
6
Everyone works
together to challenge
institutional forms
of prejudice and
discrimination
• The staff recognise that communities and the society as a whole
are changing. In co-operation with stakeholders they identify, analyse and address the changing needs of the local communities.
• The professionals work out clear policies, procedures and protocols which are inclusive, ensure equality of access and display respect for diversity.
• The management of the provision includes parents and staff
working as equal partners to identify and eliminate all forms
of inequalities.
• The staff are alert to any forms of institutional discrimination and
make it visible in order to start the process leading to its elimination.
• The staff play an active and pivotal role in promoting respect for
diversity and challenging stereotypical attitudes by engaging in the
dominant discourse on public fora.
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'We noticed Polish migrant workers working on the farms in our community. We contacted the local support centre for newly arrivals and set up a
meeting with families. We now have four Polish children, and they bring rich
diversity to our setting.'
Nurgün, centre manager
'We don’t do the multicultural stuff, because we don’t really have those people
here, occasionally we get the one or two but they don’t stay long.'
Linda, curriculum leader
'We had no racism in our school, until Matthew started our school.'
(Matthew is a black child.)
Tom, headteacher
'We are aware of the negative media coverage about the large number of
immigrant families moving here. We regularly attend local village forums and
neighbourhood groups to break down the prejudices and assumptions.'
Margarita, educator
'The staff of the day care centre, where I'm working, reflect the diversity of
our city.There is Enna who is Tunisian, Badella is Moroccan, Annie is Lebanese,
Santie is Spanish and Dominique and me are French. We share aspects of
our culture through communication with parents and children. As professionals this really helps us to fight against bias and to respect each person, both
service users and staff.'
Karine, educator
'We offer focus group discussions to our parents, to encourage a dialogue
with staff to identify any specific needs and to ensure that our environment,
ethos, resources and day to day practice reflect the local community.'
Jenny, senior educator
'Stop the name-calling, stop the slagging off!'
Traveller children, four to eight years old, asked if they
had one request to make of the Minister of Education
Publications of DECET
Lullaby for Hamza
Childcare as a meeting place
Travel journalist Mark Gielen reflects on those days when his own
daughter went to a childcare centre. That was twenty years ago
and his daughter is now a grown-up. Since then, the world has
changed a lot. Diversity in society has increased enormously. That
is why Mark Gielen decided to find out how European child care
centres handle this diversity. In his quest he stops in four European
cities: Ghent (Belgium), Auby (France), Berlin (Germany) and Birmingham (England). Each city is briefly presented and the context
of how ECCE (Early Childhood Care and Education) came to be
is summarised.
VBJK & DECET 2003
Diversity and Equity in Early Childhood Training in Europe
Examples of training practices in the DECET network
Diversity in families, standards and values within European society
influences educational systems as well as early childhood education
and services. Every day early childhood trainers and educators are
confronted with new questions and challenges. How to deal with
these different standards and values? How to communicate with
the diversity of parents? What do we want for the children? Who
decides how to raise the children in early childhood education?
The manual is avaliable on www.decet.org
DECET 2004
Respect for Diversity, Equity and Social Inclusion
Working with Parents and Professionals in Early Childhood Education
European seminar for trainers, training managers and policy makers
Barcelona, May 15-19, 2006
Plenary contributions on www.decet.org
DECET 2006
Toowey - Toowey
Playing, Drawing, Singing for Diversity
Art is a universal language that people of different cultural
and social backgrounds can share. Art can be used as an
effective pedagogical tool for promoting respect for diversity.
The film presents examples of artistic activities that:
• empower children to develop the diverse aspects of their
identity and gain self-respect;
• allow children of different cultural background to share
elements of their culture and learn from each other;
• encourage children and adults to communicate and develop a sense of belonging;
• encourage children to participate as active citizens and
fight for their rights.
DECET 2006
Toolkit "Documentation of families"
This set of tools (poster, game, DVD) contributes to the
improvement of information, communication and mutual
understanding between parents and the daycare centre.
Trainers may also find it useful as a guide for their work on
documentation of families.
The poster shows a range of diverse family forms, different
families and their children. It clearly says in many languages
what it is all about: Respect for every child, respect for every
family. (The poster can also be ordered here: www.verlagdasnetz.de)
The sensitizing game allows teams to exchange ideas about
the objectives, the methods and the principles of documentation of families in a convivial atmosphere.
The DVD gives a lot of information on the objectives of documentation of families. It presents different methods with
a focus on the family wall. The texts on the DVD represent
the fruits of shared reflection of parents, professionals and
the project coordinators.
DECET 2007
D
E
c
E
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www.decet.org
Diversity in Early Childhood Education and Training
BELGIUM
VBJK
Expertisecentrum voor Opvoeding
& Kinderopvang, Ghent
Contact: veerle.vervaet@vbjk.be
www.vbjk.be
FRANCE
ESSSE
Ecole Santé Social Sud-Est, Lyon
Contact: mony@essse.fr
www.essse.fr
ACEPP
Association Collectifs Enfants Parents
et Professionnels, Paris
Contact: emmanuelle.murcier@acepp.asso.fr
www.acepp.asso.fr
GERMANY
ISTA
Institut für den Situationsansatz
Internationale Akademie an der Freien
Universität Berlin
Contact: decet@ina-fu.org
www.ina-fu.org/ista
T H E NETHERLANDS
MUTANT
Change Agents: Supporting Respect
for Diversity, Utrecht
Contact: a.vankeulen@mutant.nl
www.mutant.nl
GREECE
S PA I N
Associació de Mestres Rosa Sensat, Barcelona
Contact: irenebalaguer@rosasensat.org
www.rosasensat.org
Centre for Artistic and Pedagogical
Training ‘Schedia’ (Raft), Athens
Contact: schedia@ath.forthnet.gr
www.schedia-art.gr
U K , ENGLAND
CREC
Centre for Research in Early Childhood, Birmingham
Contact: drtonybertram@compuserve.com
www.crec.co.uk
Κέντρο Παιδαγωγικής και
Καλλιτεχνικής Επιμόρφωσης
«Σχεδία»
IR E L A N D
Pavee Point Travellers’ Centre, Dublin
Contact: ecce@pavee.iol.ie
www.paveepoint.ie
U K , SCOTLAND
CAF
Childhood and Families: Research and
Development Centre, Glasgow
Contact: p.lee@strath.ac.uk
www.strath.ac.uk/centres/caf/